10 month doesn't want to eat unless she has a toy to distract her!

[SUNNY01]

I have a 10 month-old girl who has recently started to become more difficult with eating solids in her high chair. She usually eats well for a few minutes with the spoon or finger foods and then begins to refuse, first the spoon, and then all the food. We distract her with toys and games and that gets some more bites in but eventually she's done (unless we give her cheerios or rice cakes or strawberries all of which she loves). We've also tried taking her out of the high chair and feeding her casually in her exersaucer while she is playing and that works for a bit. I'm going to experiment with dropping the spoon. Any suggestions about the toys? I know it is a bad precedent to use toys to distract but I am at my wits end and every mealtime is becoming unpleasant. Thank you!

[inoella]

***HUGS*** from a fellow mom-of-a-picky-eater.   My lo still doesn't eat much, but I'm happy to pass on the great advice I've gotten from other BW moms. First, though, when you say "eat with the spoon" do you mean you feeding her? If so, I would def. recommend letting her try the spoon herself. My DD is VERY independent and would rather not eat than let me feed her!!! It was messy at first but she is very good with both a spoon and fork now so I think it was worth it.
Also, it's pretty normal for LOs to cut back on solids around this age. Frustrating, but common.
And, you're right, it won't do any good for each meal to be a struggle. We got to that point too and I realized it's really asking a lot to concentrate for that long! So, I decided to offer 3-5 things and then just put her down. She won't starve, and if she does get hungry early it's OK to give a snack. I also made a point to separate meals from snacks so that snacks were out of the highchair and gave her more freedom. It's also more work and mess but totally worth it for my sanity. I like the snack bowls for cheerios etc. - it does help with the mess.  And, tbh, if she wants some of my dinner on the run sometimes I don't think it will hurt as long as there is plenty of time to practice the "right" way.  
If your DD is happy and healthy she'll let you know when she's full and she'll enjoy the freedom and challenge of feeding herself.
HTH!

[mumtoerin]

Great suggestions from inoella.

But just wondering, is there a chance that your dd is full after a few minutes of eating? I know my own dd was a big eater early on. I couldn't shovel the food in fast enough, if I paused for a moment then she would start whinging and fussing. So it just crossed my mind as a possible option. Just a thought. 

[~inbalance~]

I have a distractable 10mo too.   

I think it's more important to encourage them to eat when and how they want to, and not really 'tricking' them to get the food in.  Like pp suggested, she could actually feel full.  I often have to resist the temptation to cajole him into eating.

A lot of it is the age too.  You may find her habits change a bit as time goes on.  DS2 is sometimes keen to eat a lot, and other times just wants to throw it off his tray.   

I'd ditch the toys, and when she's done then don't push the issue. 

[SUNNY01]

Thanks everyone ... at least there is a consensus which helps. I'm not sure if it's because she is full because when we do use toys she can eat SOOOO much more. I did try today to offer several things (combo of finger and what I feed her) and no toys. It worked at bfast but lunch did not go well. I will keep trying.

Just wondering if you think it is a good idea to give snacks as well? Or should we focus on the 3 meals to make the connection that that is when she should eat? thanks again for all your help.

[~inbalance~]

I like to give snacks.  'Meals' are an adult thing and have no meaning for babies and toddlers, and most children will do better on many little meals a day.  So it might be a better idea instead of trying to get larger quantities in all at once, to start incorporating snacks.  We do an afternoon snack at about 3:30 after his nap and BF.